Average civics scale score and percentage of students attaining civics achievement levels, by grade level and selected student characteristics: 1998 and 2006

Selected student characteristic

Average scale score1

Percent of students attaining achievement levels

At or above Basic2

At or above Proficient3

At Advanced4

19985

2006

19985

2006

19985

2006

19985

2006

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

4th-graders

150

(0.7)

154

(1.0)

69

(1.0)

73

(1.2)

23

(0.9)

24

(1.0)

2

(0.3)

1

(0.2)

Sex

Male

149

(1.0)

153

(1.1)

68

(1.2)

72

(1.3)

22

(1.2)

24

(1.2)

2

(0.4)

1

(0.3)

Female

151

(0.9)

155

(1.1)

70

(1.0)

75

(1.4)

23

(1.2)

24

(1.2)

1

(0.4)

1

(0.2)

Race/ethnicity

White

158

(0.9)

164

(0.9)

78

(1.3)

85

(1.0)

29

(1.2)

34

(1.4)

2

(0.4)

2

(0.3)

Black

130

(1.1)

140

(1.5)

45

(1.7)

57

(2.3)

7

(1.1)

10

(1.2)

1

(0.3)

#

(†)

Hispanic

123

(2.2)

138

(1.3)

40

(2.8)

55

(2.0)

6

(1.1)

10

(1.1)

#

(†)

#

(0.1)

Asian/Pacific Islander

147

(4.0)

154

(3.8)

66

(5.5)

75

(4.5)

20

(3.5)

24

(4.0)

2

(0.9)

1

(0.6)

American Indian/Alaska Native

‡

(†)

124

(7.6)

‡

(†)

38

(11.3)

‡

(†)

7

(3.9)

‡

(†)

#

(†)

Free/reduced-price lunch eligibility

Eligible

132

(0.9)

139

(1.1)

49

(1.3)

56

(1.6)

9

(0.9)

9

(0.8)

#

(†)

#

(†)

Not eligible

160

(1.1)

166

(0.8)

80

(1.4)

87

(0.9)

30

(1.3)

36

(1.4)

2

(0.5)

2

(0.3)

Not available

154

(2.2)

167

(2.1)

72

(3.1)

88

(2.2)

27

(2.5)

37

(4.0)

2

(0.9)

3

(1.4)

8th-graders

150

(0.7)

150

(0.8)

70

(0.9)

70

(1.1)

22

(0.8)

22

(0.8)

2

(0.2)

2

(0.2)

Sex

Male

148

(0.9)

149

(1.0)

67

(1.1)

68

(1.3)

22

(1.0)

23

(0.9)

2

(0.3)

2

(0.3)

Female

152

(0.8)

151

(0.8)

73

(1.2)

72

(1.2)

22

(1.1)

21

(0.9)

1

(0.3)

1

(0.2)

Race/ethnicity

White

158

(0.9)

161

(0.8)

78

(1.1)

82

(0.9)

28

(1.0)

30

(1.0)

2

(0.3)

2

(0.3)

Black

131

(1.2)

133

(1.5)

49

(1.7)

50

(2.0)

7

(1.0)

9

(1.1)

#

(†)

#

(0.2)

Hispanic

127

(1.3)

131

(1.1)

44

(2.3)

50

(2.2)

7

(1.0)

8

(1.0)

#

(0.2)

#

(†)

Asian/Pacific Islander

151

(8.9)

154

(3.2)

69

(9.5)

73

(4.0)

25

(5.8)

27

(3.2)

3

(1.3)

3

(0.9)

American Indian/Alaska Native

‡

(†)

127

(7.3)

‡

(†)

46

(9.5)

‡

(†)

7

(2.9)

‡

(†)

#

(†)

Parents' highest level of education

Not high school graduate

—

(†)

129

(1.6)

—

(†)

47

(3.3)

—

(†)

6

(1.0)

—

(†)

#

(†)

Graduated high school

—

(†)

140

(1.3)

—

(†)

59

(1.8)

—

(†)

11

(1.0)

—

(†)

#

(0.2)

Some college

—

(†)

153

(1.0)

—

(†)

75

(1.7)

—

(†)

20

(1.3)

—

(†)

1

(0.3)

Graduated college

—

(†)

162

(0.9)

—

(†)

82

(0.9)

—

(†)

33

(1.2)

—

(†)

3

(0.4)

Free/reduced-price lunch eligibility

Eligible

131

(1.1)

132

(1.0)

48

(1.6)

51

(1.5)

8

(0.8)

8

(0.5)

#

(0.2)

#

(0.1)

Not eligible

157

(1.0)

160

(0.8)

78

(1.2)

82

(1.0)

27

(1.2)

29

(0.9)

2

(0.3)

2

(0.3)

Not available

156

(2.2)

171

(2.4)

76

(2.7)

90

(2.2)

29

(2.1)

44

(4.1)

3

(0.6)

5

(1.8)

12th-graders

150

(0.8)

151

(0.9)

65

(0.9)

66

(1.1)

26

(0.9)

27

(1.0)

4

(0.4)

5

(0.4)

Sex

Male

148

(1.1)

150

(1.1)

62

(1.2)

64

(1.5)

27

(1.2)

28

(1.2)

5

(0.6)

5

(0.5)

Female

152

(0.8)

152

(1.0)

68

(1.2)

67

(1.2)

26

(1.1)

26

(1.2)

3

(0.4)

4

(0.5)

Race/ethnicity

White

157

(1.0)

158

(1.0)

73

(1.1)

74

(1.2)

32

(1.3)

34

(1.2)

5

(0.6)

6

(0.6)

Black

130

(1.6)

131

(1.4)

41

(2.0)

42

(1.9)

9

(1.3)

9

(1.1)

1

(0.3)

1

(0.3)

Hispanic

132

(1.1)

134

(1.1)

45

(1.9)

46

(1.7)

10

(1.2)

12

(1.2)

1

(0.3)

1

(0.3)

Asian/Pacific Islander

149

(5.2)

155

(3.1)

63

(4.8)

68

(3.7)

27

(6.6)

33

(3.9)

5

(2.3)

8

(1.6)

American Indian/Alaska Native

‡

(†)

131

(3.5)

‡

(†)

42

(8.0)

‡

(†)

9

(3.0)

‡

(†)

#

(†)

Parents' highest level of education

Not high school graduate

—

(†)

126

(1.8)

—

(†)

35

(3.0)

—

(†)

8

(1.4)

—

(†)

1

(0.5)

Graduated high school

—

(†)

138

(1.0)

—

(†)

52

(1.6)

—

(†)

13

(1.2)

—

(†)

1

(0.3)

Some college

—

(†)

150

(0.9)

—

(†)

66

(1.4)

—

(†)

23

(1.2)

—

(†)

3

(0.5)

Graduated college

—

(†)

162

(1.1)

—

(†)

77

(1.2)

—

(†)

39

(1.4)

—

(†)

8

(0.7)

Free/reduced-price lunch eligibility

Eligible

130

(1.4)

133

(1.0)

42

(2.1)

45

(1.5)

10

(1.7)

11

(1.1)

1

(0.4)

1

(0.4)

Not eligible

153

(1.0)

156

(1.0)

69

(1.1)

71

(1.2)

29

(1.3)

31

(1.2)

5

(0.5)

6

(0.5)

Not available

153

(1.3)

160

(2.4)

68

(1.6)

76

(3.1)

29

(1.5)

34

(2.8)

5

(0.7)

7

(1.3)

— Not available.
# Rounds to zero.
† Not applicable.
‡ Reporting standards not met.1 Scale ranges from 0 to 300. 2 Basic denotes partial mastery of the knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at a given grade. 3 Proficient represents solid academic performance. Students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter. 4 Advanced signifies superior performance for a given grade. 5 Accommodations were not permitted for this assessment.
NOTE: Includes public and private schools. Excludes students unable to be tested due to limited proficiency in English or due to a disability (if the accommodations provided were not sufficient to enable the test to properly reflect the students' proficiency in civics). Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Totals include other racial/ethnic groups not shown separately. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1998 and 2006 Civics Assessments, retrieved July 3, 2007, from the NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/). (This table was prepared July 2007.)